A bill that would allow shoppers to avoid state sales tax on back-to-school purchases narrowly cleared a Senate committee Thursday in spite of skepticism from senators of both parties.

“I think a very compelling argument can be made that this is an economic stimulus bill,”Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, a co-sponsor of the bill, told members of the Senate Finance Committee hearing the bill.

Still, Shaffer conceded, there was “conflicting data” on the effects of sales tax holidays like the one proposed under House Bill 1069.

Under the bill, the state’s 2.9 percent sales tax would be suspended on a variety of back-to-school items such as paper, pens, crayons, clothing, shoes and backpacks. But the exemption also applies to sport and recreational equipment that is worn “in conjunction with an athletic or recreational activity” as well as computers that are under $1,000.

The tax-free period would be for the first weekend in August in the first year in which Coloradans’ personal income grows by 5 percent or more. According to most recent economic forecasts, that would make the tax holiday in August of 2014.

Sixteen other states have similar sales tax holidays, costing the state an estimated $4.5 million in lost sales tax revenue.

But proponents of the bill argued it would be a boon to the state because overall retail spending would be stimulated, thus increasing total state tax collections

Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, also a co-sponsor of the bill, called the legislation a “no-brainer,” but economists and research organizations on both ends of the political spectrum have questioned the intelligence of sales tax holidays.

Critics argue sales tax holidays merely shift purchases that would have occurred at another time into one weekend. Moreover, they contend, shoppers frequently don’t save money because retailers either don’t offer discounts they otherwise would have or even raise prices.

Not so, said Charlie Sheffield of the Colorado Retail Council.

“To increase your prices just because you expect people to come to your stores is antithetical to our business model,” Sheffield said of retailers.

But Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, wasn’t convinced.

“I just don’t see that this is going to bring the relief that we need (to low-income families,” Giron said. “I think that this is so minimal, and I think that the people who benefit are really retailers. It seems likes it’s really good free advertising to retail.”

Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, successfully added an amendment that sunsets the law after two years, rather than five.

The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill on a 4-3 vote, with three Democrats and one Republican voting in favor and two Republicans and one Democrat voting against.

The bill now must go to the Senate Appropriations Committee before it can move to the full Senate.

The owners of Boulder’s Sterling University Peaks apartments, who this summer were cited for illegally subdividing 92 bedrooms in the complex, have reached an agreement to settle the case for $410,000, the city announced Thursday.